


Coming Home

by onereyofstarlight



Series: FAB Five Feb [7]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24141406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onereyofstarlight/pseuds/onereyofstarlight
Summary: His sons bring him back. And Jeff gets to come home.
Series: FAB Five Feb [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663633
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Coming Home

Jeff had never expected to feel the crushing pressure of the T-drive jump more than once. He felt the rattling deep in his bones, the shock of an acceleration so intense that it snapped something inside him as the fabric of spacetime warped around them.

And then it was over, in an instant, and Jeff gasped for air, his face wet from sudden tears. He tasted iron at the back of his throat.

“Oh shit, Dad,” said Gordon. “Virg, he needs you.”

Virgil stumbled out of his seat with a groan and shook his head. He peered at his Dad with bloodshot eyes and gently tugged his head forward.

“Burst blood vessel,” he muttered. “It looks pretty minor. Any cranial pressure?”

The words were meant only for him, but Jeff saw the five anxious pairs of eyes around him, staring and trying to avoid his gaze all at once.

“I’m okay, son,” said Jeff softly. He wanted to divert their worried looks, wanted to delay the moment where they learnt exactly how much was wrong with him after eight years in space. Virgil though, Virgil had always seen through any attempts at side stepping the truth. He had always given complete honesty and he expected it in return.

“You’re not.”

“I will be.”

Virgil didn’t argue. Jeff glanced sideways out the window into the familiar darkness.

“How long will it be now?”

“We are dropping into orbit,” said John, his eyes fixed on the three dimensional map in front of him. “Alan?”

“Dropping into geostationary orbit now,” confirmed Alan. “Scott, can you double check my flight path for satellites?”

“FAB, Alan.”

Jeff stared at his youngest boy. He was so much more than the little boy he’d left behind, and for all his imaginings as to who his son would become, he’d never pictured the serious and alert young man seated at the controls in front of him. He wondered if that was John’s influence, remembering how Alan had worshipped him as a child, or if his disappearance had had a role in developing that particular personality trait. He hoped his son had chances to play as well as work. But he didn’t know.

Gordon’s drawl interrupted his thoughts and he startled slightly at the intrusion.

“If you’d like to take a gander out of the port window, you might see a sight long forgotten by the men of space.”

Jeff craned his neck to the right, desperate for a glimpse of home.

“Port is left, Dad.”

Jeff grimaced at the reminder. He had known that once, had taken the time to learn all the sailing terminology alongside his second youngest. Now it was just information his brain had edited out, deemed unimportant in comparison to the knowledge that had kept him alive. He tried to ignore the slightly crest-fallen look on Gordon’s face, acutely aware that this could be chalked up as just one more failing on his part when it came to his son. He still heard the old anger in Gordon’s voice, half imagined and half remembered, lingering from the last conversation they’d had before everything changed. There was before, where Gordon was a young, hurt fifteen year old raging against the injustice in the world, and there was after, where Gordon was an unknown quantity. It pained Jeff to realise that when it came to Gordon, he still had no idea where he stood.

“I’m sorry, Gordy,” he said quietly, wishing he could reach out and gather him into his arms again.

Gordon’s voice was thick when he next spoke.

“It’s no big deal, Dad.”

They both knew it was a lie.

Jeff avoided his son’s gaze and leaned forward, peering out the window as a large blue and white sphere came into view. It hung in the sky, motionless above them. Technically, he supposed, it was beneath them. A swell of emotion arose in his chest as he looked out at the planet that was so bright, it hurt to look at after years in the darkness. For years he had stared out at a night sky full of rocks and stars, the sun distinguishable only by its brightness and not its size. Without thinking, he leaned out towards the window, drinking in the sight and pressing himself ever closer to home.

“Hey John, pop quiz! Can you name the planet below?”

“I know what Earth looks like.”

Jeff chuckled and looked back at his sons, appreciating the old joke. John, his second eldest with his head and heart in the stars, newly space rated when he’d vanished from their lives. It was a comfort to know that some things hadn’t changed.

“Well it’s been so long since you’ve visited us, I thought you might be in need of new directions.”

Jeff turned to stare at his son, his ears burning as red as his hair.

“Shut up,” he hissed at Gordon, clearly not wanting that piece of information known yet. John had always been protective over what he felt was his to share, that slight need for control never conquered nor relinquished.

“John, what does he mean?”

There was an uncomfortable silence in the cockpit as everyone turned towards John, waiting for his response.

He faltered under Jeff’s scrutiny, turning with a ramrod straight back away from him.

“Thunderbird Five is my home,” he said quietly. In the silence of the room, his voice didn’t need to be loud.

Jeff frowned. He was a trained astronaut and he knew the risks of long term space flight as well as any astronaut. Hell, he had been living them for the last eight years.

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s got gravity now, Dad,” said John, still avoiding his gaze. “It’s not like it used to be. And I have to run comms.”

“Not alone, you don’t,” Jeff argued. “It was never meant to be a solo job, you're meant to have assistance.”

_You were meant to have me._

Jeff was startled to hear the slight giggle from Alan’s chair.

“He’s not alone, Dad,” his son said with a grin.

“Alan,” warned John, barely glancing over at him. “We talked about this.”

“Talked about what? You got a partner up there with you?”

John sighed irritably.

“Thunderbird Five is ready to detach and return to her correct orbital position,” he said, ignoring the question in an infuriating manner that Jeff knew John was utterly unaware of. He transferred the map to Gordon’s station and manoeuvred his body towards the door with a practiced ease. The hours logged in space was visible in his every movement – Jeff didn’t think he himself had ever moved so smoothly in the microgravity environment.

Scott quickly unbuckled.

“I’m coming too.”

His eldest pushed himself towards him, and Jeff said nothing as he allowed Scott to manipulate the fastening that held him in his seat. His fine motor skills had weakened over the years and right now, the high intensity of emotion and eight years of neglected health was starting to crash into a shaky exhaustion that he wasn’t sure he could keep hidden.

“Boys?” He held out his arms, unwilling to leave the presence of his younger sons without saying goodbye properly. Not after the last time.

There was no longer the urgency of that first greeting, no longer the desperation and shock and relief that had underpinned the last hug he’d given them. This time, as his arms curled around them, he could take his time infusing the love in his heart into every point of contact. He could feel Alan’s arms around his waist, Gordon and Virgil each clinging to his shoulders. He leaned his head down to rest tiredly on Virgil’s head and counted his many, many blessings.

“Let’s go, Dad,” said Scott, soft and gentle, the tug of his hands a request and not a demand. As they moved together, Scott turned his head back to Virgil.

“We’ll see you down there. Call us if you have trouble with the Hood.”

Gordon snorted.

“He’ll be the one in trouble if he tries.”

“Go,” said Virgil firmly. He shot an exasperated look at Gordon. “I’ll look after this lot.”

Jeff allowed himself to float, the inertia of Scott’s motion pushing him forwards. John was waiting in the hall. He appeared to be in deep conversation with someone, hands flying across a holographic keyboard and peering into a limp looking camera.

The sound of Scott’s feet hitting the wall in front of them echoed throughout the silent station, and Scott shifted, trying to slow Jeff’s motion before he crashed into the wall. The airlock shut behind them.

John looked up, the wary look still in his eyes. He nodded at the camera.

“EOS is back online,” he said quietly to Scott, and before Jeff could wonder at what he meant, he could hear a low humming as the station came to life.

“Good morning John,” called a high voice. “The time is 0840. Was your mission successful?”

“It was.”

The station herself seemed to sigh and Jeff had an sudden notion that whatever computer programme John had installed was far more advanced than the IVA software he remembered from before.

It gave him the creeps.

“Dad, meet EOS,” said John, gesturing up at the camera he had been working with earlier.

“Jeff Tracy.” The voice seemed to come from all around Jeff, and he stared in astonishment.

“Who are you?”

“I am EOS,” replied the voice. The camera shifted slightly, as though glancing back at his son. “My function is to assist International Rescue and its operatives. I understand you to be their founder.”

Jeff blinked, still unsure at what was conversing with him. It seemed to be the voice of Thunderbird Five herself.

“I guess you could say that,” he said weakly.

The camera – EOS? – nodded and trilled a little. Jeff didn’t think he imagined the way the air grew a little warmer.

“John is my founder,” she said before moving closer curiously. “I made myself out of his games and computational code, out of his thoughts and ideas. I found him. And then he found me.”

Scott’s hand gripped tighter on Jeff’s shoulder, instinctively pulling him behind him. The motion would have been unnoticed under normal circumstances. But being held by his eldest son while conversing with an apparently sentient computer on the space station he’d made for his second eldest, following years of isolation on the far reaches of the solar system could hardly be quantified as normal.

EOS drew back immediately.

“I make him nervous,” she said and John frowned.

“Scott, we’ve talked about this.”

“You’ve talked. I’ve reserved judgement.”

Jeff shifted uncomfortably, not liking the tension that had crept up between his two sons. This was clearly an old argument, and a sore point for both of them. There was more to this story than they were willing to share.

“Thank you for meeting me EOS,” he said quietly, trying to smooth over the awkwardness with good manners, the way his mother had taught him. “I appreciate any help you can bring to our organisation.”

The ring of lights flashed green, almost like a sudden smile, and John smiled too. It was a sight Jeff was determined to commit to memory, knowing his memories were all that he had that could never be taken from him.

“Scott, reorient yourself to the floor. We’ll turn the gravity to 0.1G and see how Dad handles that.”

A gentle tug towards what was apparently the floor – a plexiglass material that stretched upwards as the station curved into a circle. A slight jolt, and Jeff felt his body drawn to the floor, an apparent acceleration that he hadn’t felt steadily for a long time. Looking down, he could see the Earth falling away beneath him, the T-drive already a mere speck in the distance.

“You’ve changed her a lot,” he said, looking up at John. “I barely recognise her.”

John flushed.

“When I moved up here more permanently, I made some changes. The glass for one. The computer system for another.”

“EOS,” said Jeff with a nod.

“No, she came later,” said John. “Brains and Virgil designed the gravity ring. Grandma published a paper on the effects of artificial gravity on the human body – all theoretical, of course.”

“My request was a way to make sure he could evacuate to Earth,” said Scott. “Hence the space elevator.”

“A space elevator?” Jeff asked, looking between them and trying to contain his excitement. “I read about those in stories as a kid. You _made_ one?”

“We did,” said John, a reluctant grin pulling at his lips. “It’s an amazing view. Only seats two though.”

John bounced ahead of them in the low gravity, leading his visitors through to the comms room. He reached out and Jeff gasped as the sensors and monitors came to life around them.

They watched John pull up the command system for the space elevator, while also checking through a number of rescue alerts that had been active within the last twenty minutes when Thunderbird Five had dropped back into orbit. His attention was diverted by a sudden call and in fluent Thai, he calmed the woman on the line.

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it,” said Scott in an undertone to his Dad.

“Yes, he is,” said Jeff, eyes wide at the way John adeptly assured her while prepping an action plan to forward to the GDF.

John glanced back at them and waved them off.

“You’d best get in. Our satellites have been forwarding comms just fine in our absence and I can’t see any issues, but I’d like to coordinate this one before I come down.”

“FAB John,” said Scott. “Call us if you need us.”

“Love you, son,” said Jeff gruffly and John’s hands stilled in front of him.

“Love you too, Dad.”

Jeff smiled at the quiet words, allowing Scott to busy himself with strapping them both in.

“Well, Scooter, it’s you and me.”

A touch of awe still hung in Scott’s eyes whenever he looked at him, and Jeff hadn’t missed the way he kept reaching out with trembling hands to assure himself of his presence.

His gaze softened and he pulled Scott close.

“I’m here now, Scott. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there before.”

At that, Scott’s wide eyes shuttered and his face began to crumple.

“Oh, kiddo,” murmured Jeff, and in the privacy of the cramped elevator, Scott cried in his father’s arms.

“Dad, we thought you were dead,” said Scott hoarsely, when the tears stopped their brutal attack. “You were just _gone_ and I, and I…” Scott hiccoughed and let out a shaky breath. “Dad, I told everyone to stop looking.”

Jeff’s heart clenched at the thought of the responsibility Scott had taken upon himself. He had been forced to make harder calls than any man should have to bear alone. Jeff suspected he hardly knew the half of it.

“It wasn’t your fault, Scott,” said Jeff, his own eyes bright as he saw at the devastation in Scott’s eyes. Looking closer, he could see the signs of age that he’d never known on Scott before, the exhaustion and worry written clearly into the history of his skin.

“I should have done more,” he said stubbornly.

“No, Scott,” he said firmly. “Our responsibility begins and ends with us. You were not responsible for anything that happened to me, the Hood caused all that pain.”

“I still should have known,” he said. More tears slid down his cheeks and he buried his head into Jeff’s chest once more. “I should have known you weren’t dead.”

“Scott,” he said gently. “You had a responsibility to your family. I am so proud of you Scott, so proud. You kept them safe, you kept them alive, and you let them grow. And you can stop now Scott. I’m here, it’s my responsibility again.”

“I don’t know if I can stop,” said Scott. “It’s been so long Dad, so many years of this.”

Jeff was quiet, a deep ache of sadness erupting in his chest.

“We’ll help, Scott,” he said. “Not just me, but all of us. I think you’ve forgotten – we have a responsibility to you too.”

“Now you sound like Virgil,” grumbled Scott. Jeff smothered a grin at the disgruntled expression on his son’s face and made a note to thank Virgil for attempting to rein in his zealous brother. Scott sat back and they startled as the space elevator began to move.

“Was John listening in the whole time?” asked Jeff disconcertedly.

“Probably,” said Scott, glaring up at the ceiling. “He does that sometimes.”

“I do not,” said John’s disembodied voice. “EOS just told me you’d both finally strapped in safely.”

“Exhibit A,” said Scott, with a resigned gesture upwards.

Jeff laughed, startled by a sudden memory of John eavesdropping on his conversations with Lucy, before scurrying off to tell his brothers about the plans they wee making to take them to the aquarium, or the beach, or the museum, or (on his favourite days) the _planetarium_.

“He’s always done that,” he said fondly.

“Yeah, but it didn’t matter so much before he got his hands on an array of communication satellites and started living on a supercomputer.”

Jeff grinned broadly.

“Scott?” he said quietly. “It’s so good to be home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the FAB Five Feb challenge on tumblr by @Gumnut  
> Prompts used were "home"  
> Cross posted from Tumblr, originally posted on 17/03/2020
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


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